Oswego trustees are looking at a proposal to increase the number of members on two village commissions as a way to bolster public involvement in local government.
The proposal comes after a recent survey in which some community members expressed concerns with the level of resident involvement in decision-making in Oswego.
Village staff members at the request of Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman presented a report recently on the village’s six commissions to trustees.
Although no vote was taken, trustees recently seemed supportive of increasing the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Economic Development Commission from seven to nine members.
The village commissioned ETC Institute to conduct a community survey in the fall, the first in the village since 2018. The Kansas-based ETC Institute is a marketing research firm that specializes in community surveys for government entities.
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“Our survey results overall were very positive. However, there was one area with a significant drop in public opinion,” Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo told trustees at a recent committee of the whole meeting.
“Our public information ratings are very high. By and large residents are saying they are getting information from the village but it’s the part about involvement in the decisions that had a significantly different response,” Di Santo said.
One of the questions on the survey asked respondents to rate their satisfaction with the level of involvement in local decision-making.
“Of those that had an opinion, 28% were very satisfied or satisfied, 43.1% were neutral and 28.9% were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied,” Di Santo said.
“The 28% satisfaction rating represented a 7.7% reduction since the 2018 survey (35.7% satisfaction) and a 4.7% reduction from the 2016 survey (32.7% satisfaction),” Di Santo said.
Compared with other communities, Oswego’s rate was 5.9% lower than the national average (33.9%) and 5.8% lower than the regional average (33.8% satisfaction), Di Santo said.
Kauffman suggested expanding the number of members of the commissions as one way to increase public engagement.
“I know a problem in the survey is that people feel so disconnected from the decision-making center, so let’s fix it,” Kauffman said.
“Not all people may be available to accept an appointment because of the level of commitment involved,” Trustee Jennifer Jones Sinnott said.
She suggested the village host a quarterly workshop that would encourage people to engage in a conversation and express opinions on local issues.
“People want to be involved but to make the commitment is something to consider,” she said of expanding the village’s boards and commissions. “We don’t have a waiting list of people looking to get on the committees. We have to come up with something that’s doable.”
The village’s Environmental Committee was active but later was disbanded due to a low level of participation, village officials said.
Kauffman said while the quarterly meeting is a good idea it does have its drawbacks.
“A quarterly meeting capitalizes on what the village already does well in communicating with people, but it doesn’t involve people in the decision-making process. It doesn’t get to where we want to be. There are people who want to be involved,” Kauffman said.
The Village Board will decide on expanding membership on the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Economic Development Commission at a future meeting.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.